Eckert pleased with team's energy
Tonda Eckert was delighted with the performance and energy of the players in Southampton's 3-1 home win over Sheffield Wednesday.
A few days after overseeing a 2-1 victory at QPR, Eckert and the team were able to celebrate back-to-back successes in the league, thanks to goals from Caspar Jander, Finn Azaz and Adam Armstrong.
Having taken interim charge of the side following Will Still's departure as manager last weekend, Eckert was able to reflect on a positive couple of days.
"Very pleased," he said of the display. "I think it was a not an easy week, especially not for the players, so very pleased that we got all of the energy bundled up together and just left everything on the pitch.
"I think we do need that, especially when we play at home at St Mary's. It's just so important to get the crowd behind from the very first minute. We've talked about that yesterday and this morning in the meeting, so I'm very pleased that we went off to a good start."
Eckert added: "It's our job just to give that impression that we leave everything out there and then I think the rest takes care of itself. So it's always lovely to have that feeling of playing at St Mary's. I've done this now a couple of times, even in the 21s I got to play a couple of games obviously with less people in the stands, but it's just a beautiful stadium, beautiful crowd, so it can't get any better.
"I'm grateful for the support, it hasn't been an easy week, not for the players, not for the staff, and every single one at St Mary's just tried to put all of their energy into the boys and inject every bit of optimism, and so I'm very pleased and a big compliment to the staff and everyone involved at Staplewood."
Eckert was also proud to be able to hand teenager Barnaby Williams his senior debut, bringing him on as a substitute at half time.
"I think a proud one for both of us, to be honest," he said. "I tried to say this earlier in the week that I think what the football club stands for is what I came here for, is to bring players closer to the first team, and what they need to feel at the moment is also that trust and that belief, and that just comes from very deep inside, and so it was a very easy decision in at half time when Flynn couldn't continue to put him on the deck."
